Budget Needed to get Spending Back on Track

Freight trains carry 1.8 billion tons of cargo on more than 138,000 miles of track across the United States each year. It is amazing when you think about the amount of force railroad lines withstand to keep this massive industry on track. Without those parallel strips of steel, relatively small when compared to their burden, there would be nothing to guide the massive trains to their destination.

Freight trains carry 1.8 billion tons of cargo on more than 138,000 miles of track across the United States each year. It is amazing when you think about the amount of force railroad lines withstand to keep this massive industry on track. Without those parallel strips of steel, relatively small when compared to their burden, there would be nothing to guide the massive trains to their destination.

The federal budget is a bit like those tracks. Without them, there is no guide for federal spending. They provide the direction needed to ensure important government programs stay on course and keep federal spending levels under control. Unfortunately, senate leaders have derailed attempts to pass a federal budget for almost four years, preventing any sort of spending guidelines that reflect the current state of our nation’s fiscal situation, further adding to our massive cargo of debt.

In the recent absence of a budget, our country’s debt has exploded from $11.2 trillion to $16.4 trillion. Congress has made a habit of running trillion-dollar deficits each year. Americans across the country lack the fiscal certainty needed for business investment decisions that a clear federal budget would provide.